Propelling mechanism for ships



(No4 Model.)

lE. HONLEVEY. BROPELLING MEGHANISM POR SHIPS, &c. N0.59j6;178. Patented Dee. 28,1897.

UNITED STATES.

PATENT rrrcn.,

ERNEST E. ONLEVEY, OF SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA.

.PROPELLING- MECHANISM FOR SHIPS, 84C.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 596,178, dated December 28, 1897. Appraisal nea June 1,1896. stanno. 593,865. (Nomads.)

To all whom it may concern,.-

Be it known that LERNEST E. ONLEvEY, a citizen of the United St-ates, residing at Sacramento, in the county of Sacramento and State of California-have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ship Propulsion; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as Will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in propelling ships.

The objects sought to be accomplished are the attainment of higher speeds with less expenditure of power and to obviate the possibility of crippling the entire machinery by mere damage to or breakage of a propeller.

Having these and other subordinate obj ects in View, the invention consists in certain novel features and combinations, as will appear hereinafter.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure lis a plan view of a ship equipped with my improved driving or propelling mechanism; Fig. 2, a detail elevation of the stern of the ship, showing the propellers; and Fig. 3, a detail view of my improved devices for shifting the bearing of the propelling mechanism.

A represents the main propeller-shaft, carrying the propeller l and a bevel-gear 2, being mounted in the usual bearings 3. The rear portion of the propeller-shaft is encircled by an elongated sleeve 4, which carries a second or auxiliary propeller 5, preferably of largerdiameter than the main propeller l,

for reasons which will appear hereinafter. The blades of the auxiliary propeller are set in an opposite direction to those of the main propeller. These propellers may be provided with any number of blades found desirable. The sleeve: carries a bevel-gear 6', preferably of greater diameter than the gear 2 on the main shaft. These two gears are placed in suitable juxtaposition, so that intermediate power-gears may be employedas will now appear. One of the bearings 3 is located between these gears.

The numerals 7 and 8 represent auxiliary drive-shafts, each operated by engines and carrying bevel-gears 9 and 10, which afford a means of communication between the gears 2 and 6. These shafts are set at a proper angle so that the gears carried by them will mesh evenly with the aforesaid gears. The inner ends of the auxiliary shafts revolve in the intermediate bearing 3 and their outer ends in bearings ll. Such a construction and arrangement provides for the transmission of a double amount of power to each propeller, which is very desirable, for it is obvious that the gears serve a double purpose-that is, transmit the power fromone source and also supplement it with power from another source. Should one propeller become damaged, the vessel is not thereby seriously crippled and prevented from proceeding on its course, as the troublesome propeller may be thrown out of gear with the machinery by means vwhich Will now be described.

Any or all of the driving-shafts may be screw-threaded, as at 12, and also provided with a key 13, and the bevel-gear can be provided with a keyway 14, so as to make it capable of movement alongits shaft. I also employ a combined collar and hand-wheel, the parts of which are respectively denoted at 15 and l6,the collar having its enlarged inner end working freely in the face of the bevel-gear and the hand-wheel being internally screwthreaded to effect engagement with the threads on the shaft. In order to effect initially the engagement of the enlarged inner end of the collar with the bevel-gear, either the bevelgear can be formed in sections or the collar and hand-wheel. Provision is thus made so that the gear may be thrown out of mesh and allow the remaining propeller to operate without interruption.

lIt is obvious that the propellers revolve in opposite directions and at different speeds. After the water has been churned by one propeller it is immediately acted on by the second propeller and results far superior to employing two separate propellers are obtained.

Instead of employing propellers of different sizes and revolving at different speeds I sometimes prefer to use propellers having a different number of blades.'

A number of sets of propellers and additional machinery might be employed, if desired, and I do not limit myself to the use of but one set operating on one axis.

Having thus described my invention, what IOO I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. A propelling mechanism for ships, consisting of the combination with independently-operatin g propellers of individual driving-engines for each propeller, and interposed gearing whereby power is transmitted from either set of said engines to both propellers, substantially as described.

2. A propelling mechanism for ships, consisting of the combination with independently operating propellers adapted to revolve in opposite directions, and at different speeds, of individual driving-engines for each propeller, and interposed gearing whereby power may be transmitted from one set of engines to both propellers or to one of them alone, substantially as described.

3. A propelling mechanism for ships, consisting of the combination with a main propeller-shaft and propeller carried thereby, of a sleeve working loosely on said shaft and carrying a second propeller, individual mechanisms for rotating the shaft and the sleeve, and adjustable gearing interposed between the individual driving mechanisms whereby both propellers may be driven from a single source of power in opposite directions, or may be driven separately, substantially as described.

4. A propelling mechanism for ships, consisting of the combination with a main propeller-shaft and a propeller carried thereby, of a sleeve working loosely on said shaft and carrying a second propeller, said propellers having their blades inclined in opposite di- ,pellers are adapted to revolve in opposite directions, and mechanism for throwing the gears into and out of mesh with each other so that one propeller may be stopped and thc other kept in operation, substantially as described.

5. The combination with a propeller-shaft having a key, of a gear carried by the shaft and slidable on the key, screw-threads on the shaft, a wheel working on the screw-threads andl rotatably connected to the gear and a driving-shaft having a gear, substantially as described.

G. The combination with a propeller-shaft having a screw-threaded portion and provided with a key, of a gear having a keyway which receives the key and also provided with a collar, a hand-wheel received on the screwthreaded portion and provided with a headed sleeve which is received in the collar so as to be freely turned therein and a driving-shaft 1 

